Revolutionary War

Authors Note: When I write I like to find the real meaning of the event, I like to take a deeper look into the situation and find the real reason we study it. To me this gives a purpose to writing about history, not just a bunch of dates and battle names all thrown in a paper. That is really what I worked on when I wrote my Revolutionary War Paper. 

The original thirteen colonies were always considered a part of England but as the colonies grew to be successful, strong, and more independent, they started to lean less on England and focused more on the thriving region of America. Major events provoked the development of freedom of the press, and lead America to having the courage to declare war against the strong nation of England.

Boston started to see themselves as a separate entity so when England raised taxes they didn’t think twice before not obeying the laws. On April 5, 1764, England Parliament passed the Sugar and Molasses Act. This act would soon affect the colonies economy causing the rum industry to have a total decline that would reduce trade with many countries. One year later, March 22, 1765 yet another act was about to be put into action in the colonies. This act was called the stamp act; it required the colonies to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used.

Some tax increases were discussed and agreed upon by the colonies representatives, but not for this act. If this taxation was allowed to pass without discussion among the representatives, the colonists knew that England would tax them even more. 

March 5, 1770 patriot protestors were protesting the occupation of the British soldiers that were sent to Boston to enforce taxation. British soldiers took stand and held loaded guns. Colonists reacted by throwing rocks and sticks, that hit Private Hugh Montgomery which caused Montgomery to shoot. Seconds later British soldiers shot their guns and when it ended 5 colonists had died. The Boston Massacre rallied the colonist.

Colonies started to prepare for any surprise attacks by the British. Farmers, blacksmiths, and citizens of all sorts from the colonies took precaution gathering guns and weapons to form a militia. British Solders occupied New York and were ordered to seize all guns from the forming militia. April 7, 1775, news spread during the night that the British were coming to Lexington to complete their task of seizing all guns from the militia. Paul Revere, a blacksmith and entrepreneur, heard the rumor of the traveling British. Paul Revere then rode his horse in the middle of the night to Lexington. Once he reached the town he warned the militia that the British were coming. When the British arrived to Lexington all colonists had vanished taking all weapons and gun powder with them.

In May 1773 England was upset at the colonies for not paying taxes, so they taxed tea. Tea was a staple for the colonies so England knew that they could do nothing but pay the taxes that were put in place, but England thought wrong. The colonists were so enraged with the tax prices on tea that they wanted to do more to disobey the law. On December 16^th, 1773 200 colonists disguised as Indians intruded on boats that were docked in Boston’s Harbor. Those boats carried a million dollars worth of tea. The colonists broke and threw overboard all of the tea that was found on the three ships. The next morning the damage was very noticeable and the news of the Boston Teas Party spread fast around the colonies. After England found out about the disaster that occurred in Boston they demanded that the harbor must be shut down in which caused many workers to be out of work.

Many times as Americans when we study U.S. history we suppose that the events that took place in the time period just happened because they did. We fail to realize that this is not the case. The Boston Tea Party for example was a deliberate scheme that was very well thought out. Colonists in Boston didn’t damage millions of dollars worth of tea just because they were mad at England. Hidden inside the terrible crime of the colonists is a strategy we fall short of noticing. The idea of war against England was debatable amongst all the colonies. The real reason of the Boston Tea Party was to bring awareness of England’s tax increases. The southern colonies didn’t want war. They were fine owning their land and slaves. By having a huge event that occurred news spread around the colonies. People started to second guess themselves about staying united with England.  The Boston Tea Party joined thirteen colonies into one nation.

Joining these very different and unique colonies was a challenge but with the method of writing and freedom of the press, news of the happenings in Boston could be shared. The need of Freedom of the press was very significant in the colonies. Unlike England, the colonists could publish their own opinions in a newspaper and deliver it to all of the colonies, in which they did. Famous writer and publisher Thomas Pain, was very involved in putting the spirit into the written word. In 1776 Paine published “Common Sense” a piece that openly asked for independence from Great Britain.

Reading was a major part of Colonial life ever since the Puritans landed at Plymouth Rock. Colonists read articles in the newspaper like “Common Sense” all the time, so opinions of people were always being shared. In the colonial period freedom of the press was crucial to igniting the Revolutionary War. Without communication through newspaper and writing, the original thirteen colonies would have never joined into one nation and made a decision to break off from England.

When you dissect the Revolutionary War and look past the battles you’ll notice the events that occurred before the Revolutionary War were far more significant than we think. These were well calculated, intellectual plans that took place, and without them the history of America would not be the same. If America never declared war we would still be a part of the strong nation we know as England.